1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side airbag which is installed in a seat side pad of a vehicle to protect the side portion of an occupant during a side collision of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a variety of airbags are installed in vehicles. Side airbags are embedded in side pads of seats of vehicles so that they are not exposed outside under normal conditions, and when the vehicles are involved in side collisions, the side airbags are deployed out of the seat side pads to protect the side portions of the bodies of occupants.
Many techniques pertaining to side airbags have been developed. However, with the layout of a vehicle seat and the overall vehicle body, it is inevitable that there will be a deficiency in the distance between an occupant and the closest door of the vehicle with regard to a side collision. Therefore, even though the airbag is correctly deployed, the occupant, particularly, his/her side portion, may be injured by the inflation of the airbag cushion.
Furthermore, because the airbag must burst out through a seat cover before being deployed, an inflator has a comparatively large capacity, further increasing a probability of the occupant being injured by a comparatively large inflation force of the cushion.
Taking these aspects into account, it is necessary to secure a predetermined distance between the airbag cushion and the door just before the airbag cushion is deployed. In an effort to achieve this purpose, a technique was proposed, which has two airbag cushions configured in such a way that an inner cushion pushes the occupant away from the door before an outer cushion is deployed forwards to protect the occupant. However, this technique requires two airbag modules and not only makes the design of the seat difficult but also reduces the durability of the seat because the two airbag modules take up much space in the seat pad.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.